


Arms Tonite

by miraculousmultifan



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, It/Its Pronouns for Pennywise (IT), M/M, Pennywise (IT) Being an Asshole, Sad with a Happy Ending, eddie will NOT die on my watch no sir!, mention of blood but not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22118347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousmultifan/pseuds/miraculousmultifan
Summary: Inspired by the song Arms Tonite by Mother MotherI fell in your arms toniteI fell hard in your arms toniteIt was niceEddie dies that day in the cistern, Richie holding him in his arms. That is until Maturin takes pity on their aspiring love, granting them what they needed all along.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 36





	Arms Tonite

_I fell in your arms tonite_

_I fell hard in your arms tonite_

_It was nice_

Eddie took multiple steps back while the leper crept closer and closer. Suddenly, there wasn’t any floor behind him when he tried to step, and he slipped. The table under him broke beneath his weight, and his right arms screamed with pain. As he tried to defog his brain, his watch beeped a reminder for his medicine, and he promptly passed out.

When he awoke, Eddie lifted his head to see Pennywise unfolding itself and stepping towards Eddie with a sinister grin on its face. A whimper escaped his lips. Pennywise’s grin spread impossibly wider as it smelled the fear emanating from Eddie. With every step Pennywise crept closer, Eddie shuffled away, dragging his legs, until his back hit a wall, and he cowered in fear. Eddie was wheezing, he realized, but he was paralyzed to his spot, unable to move his arms and reach for his inhaler.

_I don’t want to die. This can’t be where I die. My mom will be so worried about me! Where’s Richie? I can’t die here. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die._

Pennywise pretended to wheeze, mocking him, and taking advantage of Eddie’s lonely state to take its sweet time. It cornered Eddie and grabbed his face, claws digging in, before moving to eat Eddie’s arm. With every scream and whimper Eddie made, Pennywise would move away the slightest bit, cackling, before moving back in to repeat the process all over again. Eddie trembled and his cheeks started getting wet as he stared at Pennywise.

As Pennywise’s face opened and exposed its sharp teeth to bite off Eddie’s head, Richie and Bill burst into the room.

“Eddie!” Richie screamed.

Pennywise’s head whipped around demonically as it slowly pulled away from Eddie. Eddie whimpered, and Richie reached out to him with concern filling his eyes. Pennywise lunged forward to bite Richie’s hand, and he pulled it back quickly, turning to the demon clown in terror. Before the clown got the chance to lunge at the boys again, Beverly charged in and impaled Pennywise through the skull. 

Richie shouted out again, running towards Eddie, “Quick, get to Eddie!”

Beverly, Bill, and Richie ran forward while Pennywise turned painstakingly slow. Richie held Eddie’s face, shifting it to face him. Eddie curled inward on himself, pushing against Richie’s hand to keep his eyes on the clown.

“Eddie! Eddie, look at me. Hey, man, please look at me.” Richie sounded desperate, so Eddie turned to lock eyes with him, immediately floored by the raw emotion he saw. Richie looked at him with such care and concern. There was something else there too, but all Eddie could focus on was the emotion in Richie’s eyes and how softly he held his face. Eddie’s lips parted and his heart stopped. The terror he felt was beaten out by the love in his heart for one Richie Tozier.

 _Fuck_. Love. Eddie was in love with Richie Tozier. His best friend.

Then, Richie was turning towards the clown in fear, and Eddie couldn’t stop himself from turning too. Pennywise stalked closer, face contorted, and Richie’s hand was shaking against Eddie’s face. Richie whipped his head back around and turned Eddie’s face back with him.

“God, Eds. Look at me! Look at me, please.” Richie pulled Eddie’s face closer until their noses were almost touching. “Don’t look back at it! Keep looking at me, Eddie, please.” He wiped a tear from Eddie’s face, and Eddie was whipped. He whimpered softly, brows furrowed, clutching his broken arm tight to his chest.

*******

_I died in your arms tonite_

_I slipped through into the afterlife_

_It was nice_

Eddie’s head rested against the cold stone where he was slumped. He let out a pained groan, clutching at his chest. His mind was starting to cloud, but he fought it, determined to stay awake longer. Through the mist of his brain, he registered a figure running towards him.

“Eddie! God, Eddie!” Richie sprinted closer, stopping to kneel in front of his face. “Hey, hey! Eds, man, stay with me.” Eddie stared up at him with a lopsided smile, leaning his cheek into Richie’s hand. Richie wrapped his other arm around Eddie’s waist, shifting him into a sitting position. Eddie gripped the arm wrapped around him and lifted his other hand to hold Richie’s face.

_This is it, Eddie. Can’t you feel it? It’s your time now, but you can’t just go without telling him. After everything you’ve been through, you can’t leave him alone without saying anything._

“Richie, I- I gotta tell you something.”

“Anything, man, anything. Whatever you need.” Richie searched Eddie’s face for a clue, but the pain overshadowed anything else he might have seen. He wiped a stray tear off of Eddie’s cheek, heart constricting.

“I fucked your mom,” Eddie managed to cough out. Richie let out a small chuckle at that before his face scrunched up. He hiccuped and took a breath.

“What are you saying, Eddie?” Was that… Something akin to hope? Eddie stroked Richie’s cheek softly before averting his eyes. 

_Don’t try to be subtle, Eddie. Richie will overthink this for the rest of his life if you do. He’d never be fully sure, and you’ll just cause him more pain. Be a man and tell him!_

“Richie… I realized I was in love with you when I was 13. We were fighting Pennywise, and I broke my arm. It was coming towards us, but you were more focused on whether I was looking at you instead. I think I was aware of my feelings, but that was when it really hit me. God, Richie. I love you, man.” Eddie turned his head to lock eyes with Richie, a couple more tears spilling out. 

Richie’s face scrunched harder and despite his efforts, tears were spilling rapidly now. Soon, his breaths shifted to sobs, and he buried his face in Eddie’s neck. Eddie moved his hand to cup Richie’s head, pressing his face into Richie’s neck in turn. He could feel his energy fading rapidly, and he wanted to be holding Richie when it all leaves.

Right as he could feel the last bit draining away, Richie lifted his head to look at him and speak. 

“Eddie, I-”

Eddie was gone. He was kicking and screaming as some force pulled him upwards away from Richie. He could see Richie’s lips moving, but he was only talking to a body. Eddie’s body was limp beneath him, and he floated higher and higher, trying harder and harder to get back down. To hear what Richie was saying.

_“Eddie. Come, now. It will all be fine. Join me.”_

Eddie sobbed, his chest heaving as he reached out to Richie. Richie who was crying into Eddie’s chest with Mike behind him, patting his back with tear tracks shining on his cheeks.

Eddie screamed, “No, no, no! I can’t go, I can’t leave him! Let me go! Don’t do this. I need him!”

The world glowed around Eddie as he cried. The pain in his chest may have been gone, but now it was replaced by something new. Something equally painful.

*******

_White light in your arms tonite_

_I lost sight in your arms tonite_

_It was nice_

“Yippee-ki-yay, motherfu-” Richie goaded, trying to take away Pennywise’s attention from the rest of the Losers.

Suddenly, his eyesight went white, and he was blinded. He blinked and rubbed at his eyes, hoping beyond hope that Pennywise will not be in front of him when he opens his eyes. Instead, he is standing (floating?) in a bright white space, extending as far as he can see in every direction. Well, that can’t be right… He blinks hard again, trying to clear his vision.

When he opens them this time, Eddie is positioned above him, blood dripping from his lips.

“R-Richie?” Eddie winces, his face crumpled in agony.

“Eddie, w-what? I-” Richie stuttered, reaching up to touch Eddie’s face. At that moment, Eddie was pulled away by a force Richie couldn’t see. “Eddie, no! Come back!”

Richie blinked away the beginnings of a tear, and when he opened his eyes again, he was kneeling above Eddie’s limp body. Richie looked at Eddie’s stomach to see his shirt soaked with blood. Eddie’s eyes were starting to get all glassy despite the fondness Richie could still see there. He opened his mouth to speak what looked to be his last words.

“God, Richie. I love you, man.” 

Richie’s tears were falling freely now, his arms pulling Eddie closer.

“Don’t leave me, please. God, you can’t go now! Eddie, come back to me!” Richie sobbed into Eddie’s hair. His vision blurred with tears, and when he blinked them away, everything was covered in a soft glow.

“-ep, motherfucker!” Eddie screamed from somewhere behind him, and then he was falling. Richie rubbed away the glow and opened his eyes. Eddie knelt above him, holding him in his hands.

“Richie, Richie, I think I got him! I think I killed him, Rich!” Eddie smiled down at Richie excitedly. Richie smiled back until he noticed something. This looks familiar. No, no, it can’t be… 

“Eddie?” Richie’s smile dropped slowly from his face as he realized what was going on. With no way to know what happened, Richie couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Eddie was impaled right in front of his eyes.

His blood dripped onto Richie’s face, soaking into the cracks in his glasses. Eddie let out of soft sob and his face went blank with shock.

“R-Rich?” Eddie spoke, brows furrowed, as he stared down at where Richie was paralyzed on the cold, hard ground.

“No, Eddie, no! I could have stopped this, I could’ve done something! Eddie, don’t leave me, please. Please, Eddie, don’t go!” Richie reached up desperately only for Pennywise to pull Eddie away and toss him to the side like a ragdoll.

“No!” Richie screamed out, his voice torn. Cracked. Broken.

******* ****

_I cry in the afterlife_

_I cry hard because I have died and you're alive_

Eddie pounded hard, tears streamed down his cheeked, on what he assumed was the ground as he hiccupped, struck with the sight of Richie crying over his dead body. With the bright whiteness expanding all around him, there was no way to have any sense of direction. ****

 _“Eddie.”_ ****

“Who said that?” Eddie whipped around, looking for the source of the voice, but there was nothing. Only white. ****

 _“I am Maturin, the creator of the universe,”_ The disembodied voice spoke inside Eddie’s mind. ****

“Y’know, this all sounds like bullshit to me right now, but if I’m going to argue with some stupid voice, I’d like it to be attached to something I can glare at,” Eddie huffed, crossing his arms after wiping his face. He could feel the voice chuckle in the depths of his mind. ****

A turtle appeared before him. A big, human-sized turtle. ****

 _“Is this better, Eddie? Or would you prefer I take the form of one of your friends? Richie, perhaps?”_ The turtle spoke, regarding Eddie’s shocked face with amused eyes. ****

“Uh, yeah, I don’t think so. You’re some all-powerful being, right? Obviously, you know that talking to Richie after I just died and left him alone would absolutely destroy me! Your stupid grandfather turtle form is just fine.” Eddie sank onto his knees, pressing his palms against his eyelids, struggling to contain his emotions. “So, what’s this, then? Heaven? I don’t know if I deserve that…” ****

Maturin blinked slowly and shook his head. _“This is neither the Heaven nor the Hell you were raised on, Eddie. In your simple terms, I guess this would be purgatory.”_ ****

“You took me away at a pretty inopportune time, you realize that right? I have died never knowing if Richie ever loved me back. I can’t be here while he’s alone down there! We were supposed to get through this together! The Losers are supposed to come out on top. Together…” Eddie can feel a panic attack coming, and he clutches at his chest, trying to control his breathing. ****

Maturin sends him pity but does not seem to be swayed. _“He loves you, Eddie. But you can’t go back to him. Your time has come and gone.”_ ****

Eddie’s lungs heaved, and his voice cracked when he next spoke, “No, I can’t be here! You don’t understand. I forgot him! I forgot he existed! I left him, and then I forgot him! Then, somehow, we find ourselves together again, after all these years, where we’re _meant_ to be, and he actually loves me _back_ ! Now you’re telling me that after being reunited with the only person I’ve ever truly loved, I have to leave him again _one day_ after finally reuniting?!” ****

Maturin starts to speak again, but Eddie cuts him off with a broken sob. “There’s no way you understand. If you understood, I wouldn’t be here, dead, while Richie is down there with that _demon_ without me, alive. He’s going to die down there, and I can’t be there to save him. We could’ve been together. Finally. I only waited my whole damn life for us to be together!” Eddie stops short in the middle of his rant. His whole life. ****

“I… I guess I really did wait my whole life for him, huh? I never got what I wanted. What I actually _deserved_ . _We_ actually deserved. It’s over. I missed it. I’m never going back to him… I’m never going to see him again…” Eddie sobs harder at that, holding his head in his hands as his voice wobbles and his breathing shakes. ****

Maturin approaches slowly, his turtle form not being all that effective in a tense moment such as this one. _“Eddie. I see your love and care for Richie. Would you like to observe what is going on under Derry right now?”_ ****

“If you show me that Richie’s dead, I _will_ murder you. I don’t even care that I’m dead and you’re some all-powerful god. You will die.” ****

Maturin’s chuckle fills Eddie’s brain before he gestures with his head towards the ground. A sort of window appears, showing Eddie the end of the fight. ****

The Losers Club all circle around Pennywise, chanting insults at it while it shrinks. Richie still has tears streaking down his face, and his voice cracks every time he shouts. Once they finally crush its heart with their hands, Maturin gestures with his head again, and the window goes away. ****

Eddie sits back, crying harder. “Why would you show me them? Just to rub it in my face that I will never see any of them again? Remind me that by confessing to Richie, I may have made the rest of his life unbearable? Fuck you, man. I never wanted this to happen.” ****

Maturin turns a grandfatherly smile towards Eddie’s defeated form. _“No, Eddie. You have compelled me. It is defeated, so I will return you to your family. You have proven your unconditional love. I will not torture you any longer. Go to them.”_ ****

Maturin rests his head on Eddie’s body, before pulling away. With Eddie’s body fading away, he is returned to Derry. Just in time for Richie to come running over to him.

*******

_I fell hard in your arms_

_I went and died in your arms that night_

“Eddie, Eddie! We did it! We killed Pennywise, man,” Richie says, clutching Eddie’s hand tightly. Eddie can hear him again. Finally. With as much energy as he can muster with the immense pain he is suffering through, Eddie’s eyes flutter open to smile up at Richie.

“Richie… I’m so glad I’m here with you.”

Richie starts tearing up again, and he pulls Eddie close to his chest so that he can cradle him in his arms. Until Bill walks up and taps Richie on the shoulder.

“Uh, guys? I get that you’re having a moment right now, but this whole place is falling apart. We need to get out of here.”

The Losers all helped to carry Eddie out of the cistern before Neibolt house collapse in on itself. Richie was quick to call an ambulance, and then they were whisked away. The Losers agreed to meet up with Eddie at the hospital, but Richie refused to leave his side. And after all they’d been through, didn’t they deserve to stay by each other’s side?

Unfortunately, the hospital staff did not seem to agree with that sentiment, so Richie was sent to the waiting room. For 4 hours. By the time the nurse had come out to inform Richie, the rest of the Losers had already arrived.

“Excuse me, sir. Are you with Edward Kasprak?” The nurse asked, flipping through the papers on his clipboard.

Richie scrambled out of his chair as fast as he could. “Yes, I am. Is everything alright? Will he be okay? How long will he have to stay? Can I see him?”

“Mr. Kasprak has multiple broken ribs, but he has finished his surgery. He should be fine, but the earliest we can release him is in a month. The injuries that he sustained were too great, and I’m sorry sir, but only family is permitted to visit at the moment.”

In a burst of pure impulse, Richie replied, “I’m his husband. Can I visit him?”

The nurse looked to the Losers nodding from behind Richie before sighing heavily. “Fine, but only you. We do not have enough room for more than that.”

Richie beamed before following the nurse like a puppy until he was led to Eddie’s room. As soon as he arrived, Richie planted himself onto the armchair beside Eddie’s bed and grabbed his hand in his. The nurse saw himself out immediately.

“Hiya, Eds. How do you feel?” Richie asked, caressing the back of Edie’s hand with his thumb.

“Like shit,” Eddie coughed and smiled weakly up at Richie. “I really missed you, Rich. I’m going to divorce Myra. What do you think they’re serving for dinner?”

“Aw, I really missed you too, E- Wait, what? You’re divorcing Myra?!” Richie gaped, his eyes blown wide, as he watched Eddie chuckle.

“Yeah, man. We’re not a good fit. I think it’s been a long time coming, but I never had a really good reason to leave her before I saw you again.”

Richie teared up again. He was really starting to get sick of crying whenever someone admitted that they cared about him. “You’re leaving her… for me?”

“Of course I am, Rich. I love you.”

“Fuck, man. If you keep that up, I’m gonna start thinking you’re gay or something.” Richie deflected, trying to conceal his overflowing emotions.

“Yeah, yeah. Beep beep, man.”

They stayed there together, holding hands and talking until Richie fell asleep. Eddie didn’t know where the rest of his life was headed, but he was eternally grateful to Maturin for blessing him with the life he deserved. Maybe he and Richie should buy a pet turtle as thanks?


End file.
